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General Motors pulls funding from climate sceptic thinktank Heartland
[Guardian]. General Motors, the world's largest carmaker, has confirmed that it is pulling funding from the Heartland Institute, an ultra-conservative thinktank known for its scepticism about climate change.

The decision by the GM Foundation to halt its support for Heartland after 20 years underlines the new image the carmaker is seeking to project as part of its social responsibility programme.
The fact that the Obama administration controls GM via tax money extorted from you and from me has nothing to do with this, at least in the eyes of the Guardian.
In the past GM has itself been associated with efforts to discredit climate change science, but in recent years it has been investing heavily in green technologies and cars including the electric/petrol hybrid, the Chevy Volt.
Market distortions created by the Obama administration using tax money extorted etc. etc. apparently isn't involved in this shift, either.
In a statement, GM said that it now runs its business "as if climate change is real and believe we have a role to play in developing new cars, trucks and technologies that can make a difference".

The funding cut -- just $15,000 a year -- is small beer for the institute, which has a multi-million dollar turnover, largely from a single anonymous donor. But it is a blow to the standing of the thinktank and to the leading role it plays as an advocate of climate change scepticism.
A blow. A most grievous blow. An entire $15k blow. Take that, deniers!!!!
The thinktank has long been an incubator of ideas casting doubt that the world is warming as a result of man-made pollution.

GM's funding of Heartland was first revealed in a series of internal documents that have themselves become hotly contested as they were obtained under false pretences by prominent climate change scientist Peter Gleick. A specialist in water science who stepped down as president of the Pacific Institute as a result of the controversy, Gleick had persuaded the Heartland to pass him information about its policies and procedures by posing as a board member.

In fact, GM's donation was not related in any way to climate science but to a wholly different area of Heartland activity. Even so, the relationship has become too awkward for the carmaker to sustain.

The Heartland Institute said in a statement that GM's breach with it had been prompted by "false claims contained in a fake memo circulated by disgraced climate scientist Peter Gleick". The comment was a reference to one of the documents obtained by Gleick that appears to have been a forgery.

However, the disclosure of GM's funding was likely to have been contained in a separate document whose authenticity has not been called into question and that clearly contained accurate information about funders.
Posted by: lotp 2012-03-31
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=341963